"Banned" Air Jordan 1: The Shoe That Began Sneaker History
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By Stadium Goods |"Banned" Air Jordan 1: The Shoe That Began Sneaker History
The full history of the “Banned or “Bred” Air Jordan 1.
Matt DeSciora
In today’s world of signature basketball sneakers, where colorways often don’t even match a player’s team uniform anymore, there is something undeniably quaint about the Air Jordan 1 “Bred,” otherwise known as “Banned.” (Or for you purists out there, the “Black/Red.”) You see, Michael Jordan wasn’t allowed to wear the Jordan 1 “Bred” as a rookie with the Chicago Bulls in 1984 because the shoe’s black-and-red color block went against the NBA’s old uniform policy—despite the fact that it was actually designed in Bulls colors.
Clearly, a lot has changed in the last 39 years.
Air Jordan 1 High OG “Bred” AKA “Banned”
We’ll be reminded of exactly how much has changed in sneakers since the early days of Jordan’s career when “Air” debuted in theaters next week on April 5th. Inspired by Nike’s pursuit of signing Jordan to an endorsement contract, “Air” will feature the Jordan 1 prominently and, if we’re lucky, finally set the record straight regarding the fact that he wasn’t actually banned from wearing the Jordan 1 “Bred,” but rather the Nike Air Ship “Bred.”
Nike Air Ship Pro “Banned” Retro
The Air Jordan 1 entered the public consciousness in 1984 when Jordan wore the shoe with the Bulls. Before that, though, MJ took the court in the Nike Air Ship, another basketball shoe that had a similar look to the Jordan 1. Why Jordan would make his Bulls debut in the Air Ship and not the Jordan 1 is anyone’s guess (it’s never been publicly discussed by Nike or Jordan), but the choice of footwear likely had more to do with Jordan 1 production delays than anything else.
The most significant event that led to the Jordan 1’s popularity had nothing to do with Jordan’s wearing of the shoe, rather his wearing of the Air Ship “Bred” on or around an October 18th, 1984 exhibition game against the New York Knicks. According to a photograph that circulated around the time when the Air Jordan 1 High OG “Bred” was released in 2011, the NBA fined Jordan $5,000 every time he wore the Jordan 1 “Bred” in games. Sneaker historian Marvin Barias has deduced that the NBA actually fined Jordan for wearing the Air Ship “Bred,” citing a “uniformity of uniform rule” set by the NBA that stated, “A player must wear shoes that not only matched their uniforms, but matches the shoes worn by their teammates.”
After receiving the letter from the league’s offices, Jordan supposedly kept wearing the black-and-red Air Ship in games with the Bulls, because Nike was more than willing to pay the fines in order to promote hype around both the Air Ship and, more importantly, the Jordan 1. Nike even made a TV commercial stating that the Jordan 1 had been “banned” by the NBA. After that, everybody wanted a pair. Long before sneaker blogs, Instagram flexing and raffles were the norm, the Air Jordan 1 was the first ultra-hyped sneaker in existence.
Jordan continued to wear the Air Ship in the “Bred” colorway before debuting the Air Jordan 1 “Chicago.” By the time the 1985 All-Star Weekend rolled around, Jordan was establishing himself as a household name, and the Jordan 1 was the hottest sneaker on the market. It only made sense that he wear the shoe—in its most controversial colorway—during his participation in the ‘85 Slam Dunk contest.
By all accounts, Jordan only wore the Jordan 1 “Bred” in the Slam Dunk contest, not in any games with the Bulls. The notion that Jordan wore the sneaker on any consistent basis has been debunked by Barias in an excellent article he wrote for SoleCollector back in 2014. In his findings, Barias concludes that the shoe that was banned by the NBA was actually the Air Ship’s “Bred” colorway, not the Jordan 1 “Bred” as we’ve been led to believe by Nike. It’s likely that Nike, looking to capitalize on the attention Jordan’s sneakers were receiving, was more than willing to pay whatever fines the NBA issued against Jordan for wearing the Air Ship “Bred” in order to increase the buzz around the Jordan 1. (Nike’s claim that they paid any fines for subsequent wears of the black-and-red Air Ship has never been proven, and little photo evidence of Jordan even wearing the shoe exists.)
So that brings us to today. Nike’s version of the “Bred” or “Banned” Jordan 1 story is a bit different than the reality of what actually happened 39 years ago. But that doesn’t make the Air Jordan 1 “Bred” or “Banned” sneaker any less important and influential to sneaker culture as we know it today. The colorway will forever be iconic, and it has been released in retro versions of the Jordan 1 for years, in both original and alternate forms. And that won’t change any time soon.
Shop Other Air Jordan 1 “Bred/Banned” Versions
Air Jordan 1 Mid “Banned 2020”